newbie + 1080 footage + final cut pro + macbook pro = 2nd monitor questions

i'm a producer who uses final cut pro on a 15" macbook pro. i often do my own rough cut and then start to work with an editor. but for that first pass on the footage, i'm looking to move to a larger, second monitor.

i've read great reviews of the apple cinema series along with the dell ultrasharps. lately, i've been shooting with the sony ex1/ex3 which produces a 1080 image. my questions:

if the footage is 1080 but the monitor's max resolution is less than 1080, say only 720p, what happens? will the image be down-sized to fit 720 or will i lose image information on the sides?

i would like the color to be very good but i am not using this 2nd monitor to color grade the final project. does that change my ultimate decision as to which 2nd monitor?

during this holiday season, i've seen several hdtv/monitor by samsung, sony, panasonic and other brands pointed towards a consumer market, not a professional video maker. does the idea of using a hdtv/monitor change my ultimate decision as to which monitor?

i apologize in advance for my newbie-type questions.

thanks to any and all who care to share.

be well

rob

if the footage is 1080 but the monitor's max resolution is less than 1080, say only 720p, what happens? will the image be down-sized to fit 720 or will i lose image information on the sides?

It will be scaled down.

i would like the color to be very good but i am not using this 2nd monitor to color grade the final project. does that change my ultimate decision as to which 2nd monitor?

Yes, it does. But how good do you want it? Or more importantly, what's your budget? Think about that (in realistic terms) and then start thinking about what you can get in that price range. If you aren't colour correcting, then something like the Dell or Apple will be adequate. Get the 24" model and you'll also have something that can display 1080.

Incidentally, the larger you go the more RGB gamut the monitor will be capable of. For example, I use the NEC 2690WUXi (http://www.nec-display.com/ap/en_display/lcd2690/) which has a colour gamut of 91% to NTSC that exceeds sRGB. A 24" monitor will have less, and a 30" monitor will have more (in fact, the 3090WUXi has a wide colour gamut of 107% to Adobe RGB and 102% to NTSC).